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Originally posted by: Pittbboi
Yes but you shouldn't HAVE to go around the system to play others if you're a gamer and don't know people with Wii's around. That is a basic feature that has been an online gaming staple on PCs for years and the Xbox almost just as long. There's nothing wrong with making it simple for non-gamers, but Nintendo isn't making it simple, they're making it harder. Proof is in the fact that with ANY other online system ever, you could do anything that you could do with friend codes and much more. When I was a newbie to gaming and went online with Starcraft for the first time, I didn't know what I was doing, but the experience was so simple all I had to do was click a few times and I was online playing with my friends AND strangers. Nintendo's idea of making it "simpler" is just cutting out features, not making them more intuitive.
It is more intuitive and simple for non-gamers. You just can't see it from their perspective. I can see it because I want simple, I want clean, I want easy. I sure as HELL don't want Live. That mess can stay with MS for all I care. Sony can follow their suit as well. They're taking online down the road of inaccessibility. I play games all the time and I find it inaccessible. The entire experience is just plain horrible. And beyond that I don't like the direction online has been taking as it is. I don't just want to play multiplayer online. I want new types of experiences. MS is on their 2nd generation with Live and I see nothing new, nothing interesting. I see hardcore online only. Obviously the status quo isn't working.
My sister would be close to what would be considered a non-gamer. She doesn't play very much. I can get her to play Zelda and a few other games but she just isn't into the whole thing. And she certainly would NEVER think of playing online. One of the reasons is she thinks it's too complicated because it IS. Funny how that works, yah know? But, she completely understands Nintendo's friend code system. Again, it seems complicated to YOU. You're market is a gimmie though so why should Nintendo continue to cater solely to you when there's a much larger untapped market out there? The only way they're going to reach that market is to make things simple and accessible to it. I know it seems counterintuitive to you but it's really not.
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I'm not saying online gaming will always be hardcore, but I AM saying that it's mostly GAMERS that have made up the base of online PC and console gaming for the last decade. You can't deny that, and neither can Nintendo. Nintendo can try to make its online service appeal more to non-gamers by introducing their own games, but in the process of trying to appease a rogue market, they shouldn't cut out the PROVEN demographic, which is what they're doing. Nintendo can do whatever they want in order to get my grandmother playing online, but in doing so they shouldn't make it harder and/or impossible for me to enjoy a good online experience.
The proven demographic will play online no matter what. Sure they're making it a little more difficult (A LITTLE) for you because you're reasoning and understanding is greater than the norm. Should the internet have never been brought to the masses in the first place? Should it have been left the playgound of those willing and able to learn it's complicated secrets? You wouldn't even be here arguing with me if someone hadn't simplified the entire situation to where the average person could grasp it. And in simplifying it they cut out features because those features were, quite simply, unneeded by the masses and in fact only served to confuse them. Again, I don't necessarily agree with cutting all features but there certainly is a lot that is unnecessary just to play games online.
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Well, it seems to me developers are still having trouble doing what they want to do. Mr. Boon said Mortal Kombat isn't going online for the Wii because the structure and support just isn't there, and Square-Enix has said that they aren't bringing games like FFXI to the Wii because friend codes make MMOs impossible and are even in talks with Nintendo to change that. This is more than an indication that Nintendo is hampering developers with this system. This isn't the SNES days, Nintendo just can't lay out a lackluster service and expect 3rd parties to make the most of it. No, Nintendo is the underdog, and if they want people to support them they're going to have to lick serious boot. Laying out a bare bones and extremely limiting structure and telling 3rd parties to suck it up won't work, because developers just won't do it (And that has so far been the case on the Wii). You may say the only thing people complain about is friend codes and that may be true, but the friend codes alone gives developers and fans MORE than enough to complain about and, if Nintendo is STILL being so bullheaded about it when they know friend codes are universaly despised, well then that's a good indication of how much "support" Nintendo's giving third parties behind the scenes.
If you want to argue support, that is one thing. I don't know the situation surrounding MK but it would be easy enough to get a game like that online. 3rd parties are inherently lazy though. They probably want Nintendo to code the entire online part of the game for them. As for FFXI, MMOs are the only type of game that friend codes hamper but considering their limited success mixed with how difficult they are to maintain it's not hard to understand why Nintendo didn't necessarily take them into consideration. Still, the system should be able to support any and all online games. That situation will have to be worked out. Hopefully without sacrificing the simplicity of the system though.
As for gamers complaints... Give me a break! Nintendo can't seem to do anything without everyone jumping on their ass about it. Wind Waker's celshaded. HOW DAREZ THEY MAKE CELDA KIDDIZ! They reveal the Wii controller. Almost UNIVERAL hatred. I remember. I was here the day it was first shown. The only thing that proves is that gamers will bitch about anything, with or without justification. And just because they bitch that doesn't make them right. In fact, usually they're completely wrong. You can despise friend codes all you want, no one's going to stop you. But you're so blinded by your hate that you refuse to see the good that they're doing. That's your prerogative though.
Topic: Nintendo's Online Strategy (Read 12019 times)
